fugax

Fugax is a Latin adjective meaning fleeting, ephemeral, or short-lived. In scholarly usage, it is often employed as a descriptive epithet in the Latin names of organisms to indicate a transient characteristic, such as a temporary color, a short-lived life stage, or a brief appearance. It is not recognized as a formal taxonomic name by itself; rather, when appearing in species names, it occurs in combination with a genus, in agreement with Latin grammar. The form and gender of the epithet align with the genus it accompanies. The term is most common in older taxonomic literature and in descriptive notes, rather than in modern systematic nomenclature, where standardized epithets and conventions govern naming.

In non-taxonomic contexts, fugax is used descriptively to denote something short-lived or evanescent, and the word appears in literature and rhetoric as a metaphor for transient phenomena. It is not a technical term in chemistry or physics; related terms such as fugacity share the same Latin root but refer to different concepts.

Origin and etymology: Fugax derives from the Latin verb fugere, “to flee,” through a suffix that yields the sense of “fleeting” or “evanescent.” The term may appear in modern languages as a literary or descriptive loanword to evoke ephemerality. See also fugacity.